Dance for Me
by LinkGirl
Summary: When Jonouchi is defeated by Kaiba in a DDR dance duel, Anzu tries to give back the humiliation Kaiba handed to Jonouchi. Will she succeed, or has she jumped into something far more complicated? [Seto x Téa] [rated T for language]
1. Cruel Kaiba

Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl

Chapter 1: Cruel Kaiba

Disclaimer: You'd think this would be obvious; I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Dance Dance Revolution.

Note:  
-Téa Gardner : Anzu Mazaki  
-Joey Wheeler : Katsuya Jonouchi  
-Tristan Taylor : Hiroto Honda

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"Come on Yugi!!" Anzu called, staring up at Kame Game Shop's top window.

"Just a second!" came a muffled voice from inside.

Anzu tapped her foot impatiently and crossed her arms, '_Why does Yugi always have to take so long? It's not like he's got female needs..._' she paused at the thought then ended up giggling to herself, but was quickly stifled when she heard the tiny bell on the door ring, signifying the arrival of little Yugi.

Yugi grinned sheepishly at her, his face slightly reddening, "I'm sorry Anzu."

She sighed, but smiled at his cute expression, "It's okay, but come on, we're going to be late!" and with that the two quickly headed off in the direction of the arcade.

— — —

Jonouchi frowned and stared into the traffic with an expression of extreme impatience, "WHERE ARE THEY!?!"

"Whoa, calm down Jonouchi; Yugi did say he might be a bit late," Honda tried to calm down his fuming friend.

Jonouchi grumbled, "He's not a _bit_ late, he's _really_ late!"

"OIIII!! JONOUCHI!! HONDA!!" Yugi cried at the top of his lungs.

"Wow, he's pretty loud when he wants to be..."

Yugi and Anzu stopped in front of the two, panting, "We're sorry."

"Yeah, Yugi took too long making his hair!"

Yugi went scarlet, "I DID NOT!!!"

"I'm just joking, Yugi!" though Anzu couldn't help but laugh at poor Yugi.

"Come on, come on, come on!" and without another word, Jonouchi roughly guided the group into the building. There was a new game the arcade had only acquired a few days ago, but Jonouchi had already become a master at it. All week he had been dying to show off his great "gaming skills" to the gang.

"Damn it! I knew there was going to be a line."

A crowd of people surrounded the new game console; it was impossible to see who the player was, and to add to the horribly large crowd, there was so much noise and talking that nothing could be made out.

Jonouchi glared at the crowd, his eye began to twitch, "What am I supposed to do _now_!?"

Yugi looked at the ground, a bit embarrassed; if he hadn't taken so long they might have arrived before the huge rush.

Anzu sighed, seeing Yugi's sad expression, "I bet the crowd will lighten up later. Let's play some other games, guys. We can come back later."

Jonouchi grumbled but agreed. However, right as the group turned their backs, silence rolled over the mass of people. "Huh?" They all looked back at the silenced crowd. They heard a few whispers from the confused people stuck in the back, but heard no answers to what had caused the sudden hush.

Jonouchi, being the curious individual that he was, stepped forward and forcefully made his way through the crowd, followed by Honda and Anzu. Yugi hesitated; he was afraid he might not make it out in one piece, but quickly made up his mind and attempted to follow his friends.

When Jonouchi got to the break in the crowd, he didn't like what he found, "KAIBA!?"

Indeed, it was Seto Kaiba playing at the game console. Mokuba stood beside him, cheering him on. The crowd watched in respect and awe, as if Kaiba were their master.

"What the–!? Kaiba what are you doing here!?" Jonouchi was ready to explode.

Kaiba didn't even look at him, "What do you want, mutt?"

The anger in Jonouchi's face could be seen by all the surrounding spectators, "YOU STOLE MY GAME!!!"

Kaiba stopped, and slowly turned to Jonouchi, "_Your_ game? I don't remember seeing your name on it," he stated smoothly.

"Yeah, well... IT'S MY GAME!!!"

"Jonouchi, I think you're making too much of a deal about this," Anzu tried to reason with him, but it was no use.

Kaiba ignored the blinking "GAME OVER, NEW RECORD" on the screen behind him. "_Well_...If you think you are worthy enough to 'own' this game, which I highly doubt, you wouldn't mind trying to beat me in battle? Of course, the winner gains the right to play this game whenever he desires, but the _loser_ will forever be forbidden from it," he jabbed his thumb at the game behind him then motioned to the crowd, "and be made a fool of in front of this entire arcade."

"Jonouchi, think this over first!"

"You don't have to–!"

It was too late to talk him out of it, "I accept your challenge! There's no way you can beat me at this game!"

Kaiba's famous smirk crawled up his face, "When did I say we would be playing _this_ game?"

The color in Jonouchi's face faded away, and the faint sign of fear could be seen in his eyes. "What?" he half choked.

"We're not playing this game," once again Kaiba motioned to the console behind him. "We're going to play something a bit more..._interesting_."

The crowd parted as Kaiba walked away from Jonouchi; he headed to the far end of the arcade, and stopped in front of the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Everyone followed, with Mokuba, Yugi, Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi at the head.

Jonouchi stared at the two DDR stations, "You aren't implying that we're going to play _this_, are you?!" his tone was both angry and fearful.

Kaiba just smirked at him, "That's _exactly_ what I'm implying," and stepped up on to the first metal platform.

Jonouchi just stood his ground. Kaiba had to be joking, he couldn't possibly be expecting the two of them to duke it out on a dancing machine! "You can't be _serious_."

"Does that mean you're forfeiting?" he asked, quite seriously.

"NO!"

"Then hurry up, I don't have all day," the elder Kaiba spoke icily.

Jonouchi stared at Kaiba then at the machine; he slowly made his way forward, stepping awkwardly on to the machine. He tried to calm himself down; he had only played DDR a few times in his life, and all those times had been when Anzu and his little sister had chased/blackmailed him into the situation. '_There's no way in hell Kaiba knows how to dance! He's just trying to scare me into giving up! I can't let him get to me!_'

"Are you ready, mutt?" Kaiba growled.

Jonouchi glared at him, he wasn't going to let Kaiba control him like some dog, "Yeah, _are you_?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Yugi whispered to himself.

"You might want to change your level to light, mongrel."

It took Jonouchi a few seconds to understand what Kaiba was talking about, but he finally noticed three levels flashing on the screen; he was currently on standard. Of course, Jonouchi's stubborn side took over, "I'm fine where I am, I don't need no stupid handicap!"

"Whatever..." Kaiba muttered and moved his level to heavy. It was then it hit Jonouchi that Kaiba wasn't just fooling around, but it was beyond too late for any second thoughts.

"_GET READY!_" the mechanical announcer exclaimed, "_GO!_" Then the music began, and so did Jonouchi's "fall from fame."

"Holy shit!" was all Jonouchi could say before the stampede of arrows overtook him.

Within seconds most of the arcade had crowded around the DDR machine, and was staring at either Jonouchi's frantic jumping around or Kaiba's graceful moves.

Anzu took to staring at Kaiba, amazement flowing on to her face, "Kaiba can dance...?"

Yugi and Honda were too busy gaping at Jonouchi's horrible performance to admire Kaiba's incredible footwork.

Honda placed his head in his hands, "Jonouchi...You're missing every one of them!"

"Just hit _one_ Jonouchi!!"

"I'M TRYING!!!" he screamed.

Kaiba laughed, "Has it finally hit you that you're going to _lose_?" even with the mass of arrows he had to deal with, Kaiba could still throw insults at his opponent.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP– OH CRAP!!!"

"Jonouchi!" both Yugi and Honda shouted as Jonouchi fell. Without realizing it, Jonouchi had lost his balance to the machine, causing him to fall backwards into the crowd –well, the bar in between him and the crowd.

"OW!!"

"Jonouchi! Are you okay?!"

Jonouchi only faintly heard Kaiba's laughing. How could he have fallen for such a nasty trick?

Anzu finally came back to reality as she heard the hard laughter of Kaiba and everyone around her, "Jonouchi!" She quickly joined Yugi and Honda; running to Jonouchi's side. "Jonouchi, are you okay?"

He didn't look up at them; he felt too ashamed to show his face.

"Jonouchi...?" Yugi placed his hand on Jonouchi's shoulder.

Jonouchi shrugged his hand off then slowly got up, still not daring to look at his friends. The song was finally over, and Kaiba was smirking at his broken opponent, "Are you done crying?"

"Jonouchi–!"

Katsuya didn't want to listen to another word, he ran from the arcade, and didn't stop.

"JONOUCHI!!" Yugi ran after him, with Honda close behind. Most of the crowd was still laughing at the devastating defeat Kaiba had handed him. Anzu just stood her ground, looking at the place Jonouchi had stood, anger flowing through her.

"Kaiba! You bastard!" she sent him the most deadly of glares, "You're inhuman!"

"And what are _you_ going to do about it? He was the one stupid enough to accept my challenge."

Anzu was shaking, "Kaiba!! For Jonouchi's honor, I challenge you to battle!!" she pointed to the DDR screen.

He smirked, "Whatever you say, _your highness_," and laughed.

If it wasn't for Anzu's morals, she would have gone over there and slapped Kaiba senseless. Nevertheless, this battle was to depend on dancing skill, and not on strength. Anzu was just hoping her skills were better than Kaiba's.

Both set their level to heavy, "_GET READY! GO!_" and thus the fight began.

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Helpful advice and comments in your review will be appreciated!


	2. Emotional Locks

Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl

Chapter 2: Emotional Locks

Author's Note: I had to delete the song (_Butterfly_ by smile.dk) that was originally inserted into this chapter because of a new guideline about no song lyrics, so I'm sorry if it seems a bit incoherent. (The dashes are where the lyrics originally were.)

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Anzu let the music flow through her, take control of her, and guide her. She knew she would beat Kaiba; she had to, for Jonouchi's sake. Nevertheless, she felt like she was battling for a much bigger purpose, not to defend Jonouchi's honor, but for herself. She wanted to prove her ability to Kaiba. She wanted to shove his face into horrible defeat (with less violence than implied).

—

Kaiba didn't see much point in this match; he had already beaten the pitiful mutt, and in front of a crowd too. He had just taken this challenge to show annoying Anzu a lesson. Maybe after this she would shut up about all that friendship crap she ranted and raved about; he had found that her speeches had gotten quite old rather fast. He hoped to make this quick, he really had to get back to Kaiba Corporation; the arcade was just a place where he could spend time with his little brother, and on the side destroy a few weaklings.

—

It still puzzled Anzu, how did Kaiba know how to dance? This was the only part she admired about the messed up situation, if "admired" was the appropriate word to use. She would have never imagined famous Seto Kaiba a dancer, just thinking about it made her want to break down laughing, and yet, here he was battling against her in a dancing duel.

—

Seto never thought he would be interested in Dance Dance Revolution or any dancing game, but it was a video game and he was determined to be the best, so he tried out the game, and practiced, and practiced, and practiced. It was the challenge that kept him going; the challenge that motivated him to be the master. Eventually, he began to enjoy the game (to a certain extent), but never gave thought to dancing in any other form. Of course, not all credit should go to Kaiba for becoming interested; Mokuba was of _some_ influence, as usual.

—

The crowd watched in anticipation; some wanting Kaiba to win, others hoping Anzu would to win.

The spectators watched and cheered, commenting on such perfect elegance.

"Whoa! They're both getting perfects!"

"And they're both on heavy too!!"

"How is that possible?!"

"They're awesome!"

The two were synchronized; their movements connected by an invisible bond, except neither knew it. Both thought they were outdoing their opponent, but they weren't.

—

Anzu was confident in herself, but there was a thread of doubt in her mind. She had seen Kaiba's ability against Jonouchi, and it had been amazing. He had been perfect, and she was willing to bet even if Jonouchi _had_ known how to play he would have been beaten by Kaiba anyway. As Anzu continued to think about it, insecurity started to gather up inside of her, the confidence in her own ability starting to fade. Until she finally couldn't help but divert her eyes from her own screen and take a look at Kaiba.

—

Anzu let out a scream as she fell to the ground.

"ANZU!" Mokuba cried out, running up to her. The crowd surged forward to see what had happened. Kaiba, unsure what had happened himself, turned to glance at Anzu.

Anzu was on the ground, clutching her ankle, her eyes shut tight. The pain was incredible; she tried to keep the tears from her eyes, but she could feel them slowly leaking from under her lashes. "It hurts..." she managed to murmur.

"Big brother! Anzu's hurt! I think she twisted her ankle!"

Kaiba had stopped and was looking down at the anguished Anzu, "Mokuba, call for the limo, we're taking her to the hospital," he stated, his voice was calm, but slightly shaky.

"Yes Seto!" Mokuba ran off, heading outside.

Kaiba bent down to Anzu, trying to help her from the floor, "Place your arm around my neck." Had Anzu been imagining it? Or had there been the faintest hint of concern next to his cold hearted tone? Anzu quickly brushed the thought away and did as she was told; she was in too much pain for much thinking. Kaiba placed his hand around her waist and helped her to her feet, or at least the foot she could properly stand on. Anzu cringed as she tired to put pressure on her injured ankle.

"Can you walk?" Kaiba asked, even though the expression on her face gave the answer.

"I don't think so."

Kaiba grunted; he had no desire to help Anzu, he saw it as her own fault. But for once in his life he ignored his close-minded opinions, and in one swift movement he had Anzu in his arms. Anzu blinked, totally taken aback my Kaiba's sudden move.

"W-What are you doing?" she questioned slightly turning red.

Kaiba didn't answer, just gave her a weak glare.

He made his way through the chattering crowd that had quickly parted when he had stepped down from the DDR machine. He didn't speak until he reached the limousine waiting outside.

"Mr. Kaiba," the driver slightly bowed at his employer and opened the car door.

"Take us to the hospital."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

Mokuba was already waiting in the limousine; he had a worried expression, and immediately smothered Anzu with questions, asking if she was all right and if there was anything more they could do for her. It had always amazed Anzu that Seto Kaiba's little brother could be so caring.

She smiled sweetly at Mokuba, "No, I'm fine Mokuba," then she quickly added, "But thank you for asking."

The limousine began to move and Anzu leaned back into the leather seating; the pain in her ankle was starting to subside.

—

Halfway through the car ride, which was unnervingly quiet, Anzu timidly took a glance at Seto; his arms were crossed and he wore a solemn expression. He didn't look like he was enjoying himself; of course, when did he ever? It, in a way, discouraged Anzu, as if she was just a thorn in his side, and the more she thought about it, the more this conclusion seemed to be the truth.

—

Seto never let his outside features show his inside feelings or thoughts. This had always been his tactic in business and in dueling; it had slowly become part of his everyday life. The truth was, what Seto was showing on the outside was much different than what he was feeling on the inside, at that moment. He was confused and flustered; he didn't understand what was going through his head. A feeling he had never felt before was waging a war inside of him, trying to tell him something, but he didn't know how to listen.

—

Anzu stared at the ground; her body was becoming hot and clammy even though the air conditioning was running. She tried to believe her hurt ankle was causing it, but deep down she knew the real reason, but she didn't want to admit it. Because even if she did, she knew _he_ wouldn't accept it.

Seto turned to stare at Anzu, her head was down and her auburn hair covered her eyes, almost as if she were ashamed to be in the same car as him; she looked so innocent, yet so sad. He quickly jerked his head away, afraid Anzu might notice him, and took to gazing out the tinted window.

—

The limousine finally came to a stop in front of the Domino Hospital. The ride had felt like an eternity to both of its teenage passengers. Anzu turned to Seto, to find him staring straight into her eyes. In those few seconds, the car ride had been nothing, something lost in wind. _This _was eternity.

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Thank you reviewers _Kikoken_ and _Peneia_ _Teke_ for pointing out my small grammatical error in chapter one.


	3. Realization

Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl

Chapter 3: Realization

Author's Note: Hah HA!! I found my way out of the amazingly deep ditch I got myself into (no more writer's block!)! Now read on, the finally updated chapter three!!!

(I'm so very sorry for the late update, for all those who have been waiting.)

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When Anzu opened her eyes she was staring up at a white ceiling she recognized as her own –how she recognized the plain white ceiling as her own is still a mystery.

She didn't move, slowly realizing that she was lying in her comfy bed, still fully dressed with the exception of her shoes. The room was dimly lit, and there was not a sound to be heard. By the time she heard someone at the door, a few minutes later, she had figured out that night had risen and that there was something clamped to her foot. She let her head drop to one side to see her mother enter carrying a tray of what she could only assume was dinner.

"Oh, you're finally awake," her mother smiled at her, placing the tray on her desk.

Anzu blinked, still slightly dazed from waking, making it hard to find words to pose the questions slowly accumulating in her head.

Fortunately for Anzu's groggy brain, her mother had the answers to her unasked questions, "You sprained your ankle, Anzu-dear," which explained the brace strapped to her foot, "And one of your friends from school brought you back here after your stop at the hospital."

Anzu's brain finally clicked on, and everything came rushing back, "Kaiba...!" she murmured.

"Yes, I'm so glad he was kind enough to bring you back here; and even carry you to your room. He told me you fell asleep on the ride to the hospital. I'm so glad you're all right," her mother gave a relieved sigh, patting Anzu's bed, "Of course you'll need to be walking around on crutches for a while..."

The rest of her mother's voice was blocked out by thought; Anzu had fallen asleep on the car ride? But she remembered arriving and... Then Anzu froze, her expression draining into horror. She had dreamt it! She had dreamt falling in love with Seto Kaiba!! And him falling in love with her!!

She played it in her mind, like watching a blurry movie; she quickly came to the realization that the entire car ride had indeed been a dream. It had seemed so real at the time, which is what to be expected from dreams, but even now, as it began to blur, she could still remember her quickened heartbeat. She could even hear –no, she could sense Kaiba's uneasiness. And with the uncanny abilities only found in dreams, she could hear him think, "Why am I acting this way? Is it that I...love—?"

Anzu squeaked in horror, pushing the memory as far back as possible.

"Anzu, are you all right?" Her mother was looking at her with the strangest of looks, but then again, what mother wouldn't have after hearing their daughter squeak as she buried her face in sheets?

Anzu quickly raised her head from her bed covers, "I'm...fine," she spoke still a bit shaken up, "I just need...food," she ended, for the lack of any other excuse. Finally she was left to eat her dinner in troubled peace.

— — —

That night she had a less realistic dream –a far less realistic dream, which in any other case would have been hilarious without the overall mental brain damage it caused. In the dream Kaiba was standing outside her house, serenading up at her window; that is until the neighbors woke up and started yelling at him for waking everyone but the dead. After waking, she concluded the stress of yesterday's events was temporarily affecting her judgment –at least she sincerely hoped this was the case.

— — —

"Anzu! What happened?!" was what she was greeted with the next day when she arrived for class on crutches. Yugi ran to her before she could even make it into the room, followed shortly by Jonouchi and Honda.

"I..." she glanced down at her braced foot, "I sprained my ankle."

"We figured that much, but how'd you get it like that?" Jonouchi was back to his normal self; Yugi and Honda had successfully cheered him up, though yesterday's events were far from forgotten.

Anzu smiled awkwardly, "I tripped down the stairs." There was no way she was going to tell the boys she had fallen on the DDR machine in a duel against Kaiba; she knew that that information would just upset Jonouchi again, and dramatically increase his ever growing hate for the CEO, especially since it had all been in his defense.

"You tripped down the stairs?" Honda asked, a bit skeptical.

"Yeah..." Anzu started to feel the lie lower its weight onto her shoulders; never before had she lied to her friends, it didn't feel right.

From behind Anzu came the sound of someone clearing their throat, "Do you mind?" Anzu was still in the doorway.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Anzu quickly hobbled out of the way, not even recognizing the speaker's voice.

"I didn't realize—" but as she turned to the man standing in the doorway, she felt her body go cold, as if someone had suddenly dumped a bucket of freezing water on her. It was Kaiba.

Jonouchi's expression turned to pure anger, his fists clenched and shook.

Kaiba glanced at Jonouchi's enraged expression, a smirk slithered up his face; "I see the mutt hasn't changed, as rabid as ever," then he threw a glance at the others, "Make sure he doesn't bite anyone, they might get infected." Then he laughed his cold infamous laugh and glided into his seat at the back of the class.

Jonouchi looked as if he were going to explode, "**_I'LL KILL HIM!!_**" he chocked through gritted teeth.

"No, Jonouchi! He's just a creep!" Yugi pleaded. Even though he knew Kaiba was acting like the biggest jerk in the world, he also knew a fist fight wouldn't lead to anything but more trouble.

"Yeah!" Honda added, "Anything that comes from a grade-A asshole isn't worth listening to!" and quietly added, "Though I don't think anyone would mind if we kicked him a few times..."

"Honda!" Anzu glared at him, with a look that clearly stated, "Not helping!"

Although Jonouchi's mood stayed in a rotten state for the rest of the day, Anzu couldn't help but be thankful Kaiba didn't say anything about their little adventure yesterday. Don't get her wrong, her hate level for Kaiba had risen to its peak, but still, a part of her couldn't shake the first dream she had had –even as much as it disgusted her.

— — —

Seto Kaiba gave a great sigh of relief when he finally arrived home that night; work was becoming increasingly stressful due to the new products they were testing, many of which still had entirely too many bugs to sort out.

Unfortunately, Mokuba wasn't especially helpful in changing his mood...

"Hey, big brother? Was Anzu all right today?" Kaiba had barely entered his home office before Mokuba nailed him with the question.

"Like I care."

"Seto..." Mokuba half-whined half-scolded.

"What? I could care less about the friendship brigade."

"Then why'd you help Anzu to begin with?"

"Because...I couldn't just leave her there."

The elder Kaiba was almost to his seat before, "But...you and Anzu looked so cute together," he missed the seat entirely, landing on the floor as the chair rolled away.

"Seto!" Mokuba quickly ran to his now floored brother, not expecting his words to have been so dangerous.

"_What?!?_" was Kaiba's second reaction after his chair miss.

"Well...you did, in a...weird type of way –but only slightly...slightly cute, I mean; but it's not like anyone else noticed," instinct quickly told Mokuba to drop the subject as Kaiba's face was becoming red with anger and his eyes of the type that could kill.

"Mokuba; I do not love Anzu!"

"I didn't say that."

"Well—I don't!! And we do not look cute together!! Don't _ever_ say –_think_ that again!!" and with that the furious Kaiba left, taking an early leave to his room, completely forgetting about any work left to be done, but more importantly the mail sitting on his desk, where a possible life-changing invitation sat waiting to be opened.

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Thank you reviewer _Penny Lane00_ for pointing out my small grammatical errors in chapters one and two, and thank you everyone who's given me constructive criticism so far.


	4. Fate Calls

Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl

Chapter 4: Fate Calls

Author's Note: ... Okay, I admit it; I'm a horrible _horrible_ procrastinator. And I'm _really really __**really**_ sorry to all those people who have been waiting...and waiting...and waiting. I really appreciate all the reviews, and I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. But I'm back! And hopefully I'll get more than one chapter up before I disappear again.

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Kaiba reread the perfectly trimmed and laced invitation for the thirty-second time that week.

"So, what are you going to do?" Mokuba asked for only the fourteenth time that week.

"I don't know..." he groaned, very un-Seto-like. He flicked the invitation across the room in annoyance, where it hit the wall and floated sadly to the carpet.

Mokuba simply stared at where the bent invitation had landed; he sighed deeply, hating to see his older brother in such a terrible mood, "You still have a month; that's plenty of time."

The elder Kaiba merely grunted, and commenced in glaring intensely at the tan-colored ceiling.

Mokuba gave another, slightly annoyed, sigh, "Oh come on, Seto. It's not like it's the end of the world."

Seto groaned loudly, signifying that it was indeed the end of the world, as far as he was concerned.

— — —

The next day Seto Kaiba was particularly annoyed at school, more so than usual. He broke his "fury record" with snapping at a grand total of twenty-seven people...all in the first four hours of school. Two of which happened to be teachers. The first had been his own teacher, and had threatened him with detention if he didn't compose himself. The second, who was not one of his teachers, was so taken aback by his tone and wrath that she thought he was a fellow instructor, or even worse, one of her employers. This, in essence, was pretty sad, due to the fact that Kaiba was wearing his school uniform, just like every other student.

"Kaiba's acting a bit antsy today, don't you think?" Honda observed as Kaiba proceeded to yell at a meek girl about half his size for _him_ tripping over a bag that wasn't even hers.

"Yeah I know, usually he's pretty quiet at school," Yugi added, also watching the spectacle, having long given up on trying to stop Kaiba's rampage. Kaiba had almost bitten his head off earlier that day for trying to confront him about making a little freshman boy cry, or at least get teary eyed. "He must be really stressed about something."

"Either that or he's upgraded himself to a world class jerk,"

"I thought he was that to begin with," Jonouchi grunted, glaring at Kaiba with eyes full of his own fury.

"Fine, universal class jerk. Happy, Jonouchi?"

Jonouchi merely grunted. Even though it had been over a week since his humiliation, an intense loathing still hung in the air around him. And Kaiba's current hissy-pissy mood wasn't helping.

Kaiba had finally stopped yelling at the girl, and was headed for the door.

"_Finally_, a break in the–" but Honda was cut off as Kaiba slammed right into someone on the other side. He had looked back for an instant to glare at the girl before leaving, but had neglected to see if anyone equally oblivious was making their way into the room.

"_HEY!!_" he barked from his position on the ground, "Watch where the hell you're–!!"

"Anzu!" Yugi almost yelped when he realized she had been the unlucky victim of Kaiba's blindness, and that she was now grimacing on the ground, her crutches both lying unattended at her sides.

"You son of a bitch!" Jonouchi shouted; he marched up to Kaiba and was more than ready to slug him good and hard before Honda and Bakura jumped in and grabbed his arms, "No, Jonouchi!"

"It was an accident!" Bakura cried as Jonouchi struggled in his grip.

"Honda, Bakura, _let go!!!_" he screamed.

"It's not worth getting detention over!" Honda yelled, still trying to restrain the furious boy.

"Maybe you really should wear a leash," Kaiba mused, as Jonouchi flailed above him.

"Kaiba!!!" Jonouchi screamed, and to his surprise, his fist made contact with the pompous man's cheek. Honda had let go of his friend at Kaiba's comment, letting Jonouchi's fist fly.

"That's worth getting detention over," Honda growled, adding a kick, which Kaiba grunted from.

"Boys!" both jumped, thinking a teacher had caught them in the act, but instead they found Anzu, back on her feet, a stern look on her face.

"It was an accident; I wasn't looking where I was going either."

The two didn't answer, internally still cheering at their victory. But they let Kaiba be, not bothering to hide the small grins that had formed on their faces, and returned to their seats. Anzu and Yugi did the same, although lacking the victorious grins.

By the time Anzu got to her seat she unwillingly realized that she had just defended Kaiba, even if it had been instinctually done. She mentally kicked herself with her good foot and took to glaring at her desk until the teacher finally entered for their next class.

— — —

"Big brother! What happened to your face?!" Mokuba cried, running up to Seto as he entered the estate.

"That rabid dog got let off his chain," Seto answered gruffly, not stopping in his strut to check if the front door was properly shut behind him.

Mokuba looked puzzled for a moment, then realized Seto was actually talking about Jonouchi, and not a real dog. He ran to catch up with his older brother, who was already heading for his study.

"What'd he do this time?" Mokuba asked, the anger in his voice obvious. Unlike his brother, he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings.

"Nothing serious, a temporary bruise at worst," Seto replied, flicking off the bandage that had been hiding his wound. He stopped and cringed slightly, not expecting the removal of the bandage to sting so much, but he did his best not to show any signs of pain.

Mokuba looked up at the punch mark; his face contorted slightly, "It doesn't look _that_ bad..."

Seto Kaiba scoffed and swore as he looked into a passing mirror; it was still swollen and was already beginning to darken slightly. He didn't want to think about how it would look tomorrow.

"That son of a bitch is going to pay," he grumbled to himself, finally reaching his home office and sitting in the large leather chair centered behind his desk, "But first."

"First?" Mokuba asked, plopping down on the teal-colored sofa opposite to where Seto sat.

"I need to solve my current problem," he said, bringing out a sheet of paper from one of his many pockets; on it were scribbled seven numbers in dark blue ink. His free hand went to pick up the phone.

Mokuba smiled happily, he knew his brother would think of something.

— — —

Later that evening, Anzu Mazaki received a possibly life changing call.

"I'm calling for Ms. Mazaki."

"Just a moment—" her mother held her hand to the receiver and called, "Anzu! There's someone on the phone for you!"

"_Just a moment!!_" Anzu yelped and reached for her crutches, which decided fall in the opposite direction of her outstretched hands.

Her mother waited patiently, nervously tapping her foot as the seconds continued to pass by.

"_J-Just a moment!!!_"

"Excuse me, could you hold on a moment?" her mother asked the caller politely, at the same time grimacing into the phone.

"Of course."

With a soft thud, her mother set the phone down on the wooden desk in front of her, "Anzu! Are you alright?" she said, racing over to her daughter's room.

"I'm...fine...Just— Thanks, mom."

"Hurry."

"Right, right."

The caller smiled in amusement at the distant voices and waited as Anzu scrambled to the phone.

"Hello?" Anzu panted, "This is Anzu Mazaki," she added after a moment of silence.

"Anzu!"

She was puzzled for a moment, but then realized who the voice belonged to, "Ms. Yoshida!"

"I'm glad you remembered. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, and you?"

"Very well, the dance studio is flourishing, although we do miss our prized student."

Anzu chuckled slightly and touched her cheek as her face started to go red from the compliment.

"I was actually calling to see if you were interested in a job. It seems we have a shy student who desperately wants a personal tutor; of course, all of our instructors are too busy at the moment, so I was wondering if you'd be up to the job."

Anzu was speechless, her eyes had lit up and she looked as if she could have jumped up and down squealing like a child with a new toy; this would be the perfect opportunity to make some money, and at the same time do what she loved, at least something close enough to it.

When she finally regained her voice again, she nearly did squeal, "Of course! I would love to!"

"Okay! That's great! He said he'd like to meet you in person tomorrow, if that's alright."

"It's perfect!"

Anzu's former dance teacher chuckled, "I see you're quite excited. Do you have a piece of paper?"

"Oh, um, just a moment," Anzu's franticly snatched up the notepad that was conveniently placed next to phone, but knocked the pen case over in the process, "Shoot..."

"I can wait."

"Thanks—ack," Anzu grunted as she tried to catch the pens before they rolled off the desk. She finally snatched one up, leaving the rest to clatter to the ground.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Anzu jotted down the time and place Ms. Yoshida gave her, and was about to bid her a cheerful farewell when Ms. Yoshida quickly added something else, "Oh! And I should probably give you his number."

"Yes, thank you, thank you so much!" Anzu smiled widely, and finally hung up the phone after scribbling down the number and exchanging a grateful goodbye.

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Hopefully the next chapter will pick up the pace.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who's been reviewing, and triple thank the people who have been waiting for me to update. You guys should get a metal for your patience.

As a last note, I have also started a personal forum for my stories, if anyone is interested in talking about them, asking questions, bugging me, yada dada do. (Just remember reviews are still submitted here, thanks!)


	5. Startling Surprise

Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl

Chapter 5: Startling Surprise

Author's Note: Wow, I'm actually updating only a month after my last update! (That's a pretty good accomplishment for me.) Although, I have to say, I know I'd been gone for a long time, but I certainly didn't expect to get a mere three reviews... (By the way, thank you _so_ very much anissa, badgirl-250, and Rangerette for the reviews!!)

Oh well. On with the story! Hope you enjoy chapter five!

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The meeting time was four in the afternoon; just enough time to make it home from school, freshen up, and arrive at the designated meeting place. The place was a fancy, and probably expensive, French restaurant in which Anzu couldn't pronounce the name to.

She couldn't help but smile thinking about it; a paying job teaching dance. It was too good to be true.

— — —

Anzu managed to arrive ten minutes early. She quickly looked around for any signs of a lone male waiting, but unfortunately, there were at least three men waiting outside the restaurant; although none of them seemed to be too interested in what was going on around them. It then occurred to her that he might already be inside the restaurant, but shortly after that thought, she realized she didn't even know his name, and that would get her nowhere.

Five minutes passed, with Anzu anxiously waiting on a bench that sat no more than three feet from the restaurant's front doors; she adjusted her hair and smoothed her skirt absentmindedly, even long after there was any wrinkle to flatten from the fabric.

When it was almost a minute to four, she began watching the single men enter and exit the restaurant, all the while thinking, "Maybe that's him," or, "Oh, I wish that was him." She even began imagining what he might look like –or more accurately, she began imagining what she wanted him to look like.

It was six minutes past four when Anzu started to get antsy. What if she had missed him? What if she had been given the wrong place or time? Or what if he had somehow gotten hung up, unable to make it? Was there any way for him to contact her?

With all her worries starting to stack up, she quickly shuffled through her purse looking for his contact information. She took out her cell phone and stared at it for a moment, going over what she would say if he did happen to answer. After another minute, she finally began dialing the number her dance teacher had given her.

It rang once. ... Twice. ... Anzu held her breath; then someone picked up: "Hello?" The word was gone so fast, Anzu almost didn't register it.

"Um, hello, I—um..." her tongue tied, even though she had rehearsed the conversation over and over in her head.

Although almost inaudible, the voice on the other end exhaled sharply, a hint of annoyance in the soft underlying grunt.

Hearing this, she instantly responded in a slur of words, "Imcallinginregardsto –to the personal tutor you wanted."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm calling in regards to the personal dance tutor you wanted," she repeated at a slower pace.

"Right," he grunted, "Are you at the restaurant?"

"I'm sitting outside, in front of the flowers."

There was a long pause, a then an irritated grumble, "_Where?_"

"Um..." Anzu looked down at herself, "I'm wearing a red blouse and a black skirt. –Oh, and I'm holding crutches," she finished, quickly snatching up her crutches that had been sitting next to her.

Silence.

"Um...hello?"

The silence continued.

Anzu shifted uneasily and she began to desperately look around for anyone looking in her general direction; finally she spotted a tall man...a tall..._oh shit_.

— — —

Seto Kaiba hung up the phone, "You have got to be kidding me!" He stomped over to Anzu and looked her straight in the eyes. "_You_ were the one chosen to be my dance instructor!?"

"_Y—Y-YOUR_ dance instructor!?!"

"Yes, _my_ dance instructor," he grumbled.

Anzu just sat there shocked, then finally managed to open her mouth, "You're the one who needs to learn how to dance?"

"_Yes_," he hissed through his teeth, Kaiba was getting _very_ tried of her astonished tone _very_ fast.

"But— But... Don't you already know how to dance?" was all she could manage out.

He stared at her, his turn to look surprised; although it was more of a "are you crazy" surprised.

She saw this and continued, trying to explain her assumption, "But you're so skilled at DDR."

His expression didn't change for the better, in fact, it actually got worse. Now he was staring at her with a "are you bloody out of your mind, woman" expression. "Who the hell learns to dance from DDR!?"

She mentally sighed in agreement; although it was a great game for exercise, it certainly wasn't going to teach you how to waltz. She stifled a snort at the mental image of Kaiba waltzing.

"What's so funny Mazaki," he snapped, outrage starting to boil up inside him.

"Nothing," she lied quickly, composing her face in the process; although now her mind was on a roll, and was currently picturing Kaiba dancing to, not only the waltz, but the tango and the swing.

Kaiba glanced around, as if somehow hoping that there was someone else waiting for him, although he knew all too well that there wasn't.

"Come on," he ordered with a scowl on this face.

— — —

"Do you have a reservation?" the finely dressed woman at the front asked them.

"Yes. Kaiba."

"Mr. Kaiba..." her finger trailed down the list until it came to his name written in elegant, almost illegible, script. "Mr. Seto Kaiba." Her voice wavered for a moment at the name, but she remained composed and led them to a table for two, "You're waiter will be with you shortly," she smiled a fake smile, and handed them their menus before hurrying off.

Anzu set down her crutches so that they were propped up against the wall next to where they were seated.

Kaiba immediately put the menu down, not at all interested in what was listed to eat. Anzu didn't dare look at the menu with Kaiba in such a bad mood, and cautiously followed his example, placing it down on the table.

There was a ridiculously awkward silence between the two, as Anzu carefully watched Kaiba, and Kaiba sat there trying to digest the situation, at the same time, trying to keep himself calm.

"Would you two like anything to drink today?" a cheerful waiter asked, breaking their silence. He poured them both a tall glass of ice cold water, waiting patiently for a response.

"Nothing for now," Kaiba finally said, although he tried to keep it monotone, it came out slightly angry.

When the oblivious Anzu didn't reply, the waiter spoke again, "And would your girlfriend like anything?"

Kaiba's expression could have killed everyone seated within twenty feet of them. And for all Anzu knew, it might have actually done so to the young waiter, for he was frozen in place.

Anzu quickly answered, "Water's fine."

The waiter was gone before he could say, "I'll be back when you're ready to order."

"What's wrong with you?" Anzu frowned, turning back to Kaiba after watching the young waiter just about sprint away.

Kaiba didn't answer; instead he took a sip of his water and decided not to make eye contact with Anzu.

"Helloo? Earth to–"

"_I need to attend a corporate ball!_" he snapped, a little more forcefully than intended.

Anzu remained silent. Then she finally asked embarrassedly, "A what?"

He glared at her, and resisted the urge to snap again, "A corporate ball. A bunch of rusty old men get together and hold a party where you're expected to dance, at least in this case, or else you look disrespectful."

"It's never stopped you before..." she mumbled, commenting on Kaiba's disrespect for just about everyone but his little brother. However Kaiba either didn't hear her or decided to ignore the remark, for he continued.

"I've been invited to one, but..." his teeth clenched in reluctance, "But I don't know how to dance."

Anzu just sat there, not exactly sure if she was supposed to respond to that. "And... You want me to be your teacher?"

"I was actually hoping for someone else."

"Well, _excuse_ me, Mr. _High and Mighty_. I happen to know just about any dance you could want to learn."

"And you're on crutches," he replied simply, his eyes unconsciously going to stare at where they were propped.

". . ." Anzu tried to open her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it when she realized he was painfully right. For some reason, her excitement had completely overshadowed the fact that she couldn't actually dance in her current state. She finally came up with a poor rebuttal, "That doesn't mean I can't tell you how to dance, and–"

"If I wanted that I could have looked at a book," he said impatiently.

"I can correct your mistakes! A book can't do that," she replied, a sudden feeling of confidence taking hold of her, "Besides, they're taking my leg brace off in two weeks. I can practice with you then."

"The party," Kaiba didn't want to call it a ball, "is in three weeks. That's not enough time."

"Seto Kaiba!" Anzu snapped, surprising Kaiba, even if it was only for a split second. "You're making excuses. Is it that you simply don't want _me_ teaching you how to dance?"

Anzu was half expected Kaiba to say yes, so she was taken completely by surprise when he instead replied, "What days are you available to teach then?"

"Um—I...What?"

"Stop acting stupid and answer the question: what days are you available to teach?" Seto grunted.

"I... Whatever's good for you," Anzu finally managed.

"What about Sundays?"

"That's fine, I guess..." Then Anzu's brain finally rebutted, "Wait! Only Sundays? You expect to learn how to dance in... What would that be? –Three sessions?"

Seto sat there silently listening as she continued, "I don't know how quickly you'll pick up the dance steps, or how many dances you would like to learn, but I'm pretty sure three sessions isn't going to be enough!"

"What do you propose then," Seto was finally speaking calmly, although it was a bit distant, almost in a business-like tone.

Anzu thought for a moment, and then slowly expressed her thoughts aloud, "Sunday, Saturday... And possibly even a few weekdays."

"I have work; I can't be taking off for something so trivial."

Anzu looked at him with determination, slightly irritated that he dared to call dance lessons "trivial," "Unless you want to make a fool of yourself at that ball of yours, you'd better make room."

Seto's eyes narrowed, but after consideration, he outstretched his hand, "Fine; you'll be paid a gracious amount for your teaching me how to dance; we will meet on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays," he paused, and when no objection came he continued, "The lessons will be held at my mansion; if you somehow can't reach me, I'll have a limo pick you up. We can go over the smaller details later. Agreed?"

Anzu took a moment to go over all the information he had just presented her; then she reached her hand out to shake his, but he retracted it quickly and added, "Oh, and one more thing; if you even _think_ about telling those friends of yours, or anyone for that matter, about this arrangement..._your dancing career is as good as over_."

Although that was the last thing Anzu planned to do, she didn't appreciated the threat, but unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about it. She took his hand and shook it, making sure her grip was just as strong as his.

The waiter, who had finally built up the courage to return, attempted to politely interrupt, "Are– Are you two ready to order?"

There was silence for a moment, and the waiter was starting to severely think his brand-new job was over, when Seto finally smirked his trademark smirk, and answered, "Yes, of course."

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